After the Storm
by Elliscina
Summary: Whoever said that calm comes after the storm was obviously the most irresponsible being on earth.


**After the Storm**

Whoever said that calm comes after the storm was obviously the most irresponsible being on earth. Right, the world was at peace but it was an uncomfortable one, with Galbadia at the edge of a civil war and Esthar suddenly opening their borders, most people just assumed that a new war between both countries was coming, add to this the fact that now Sorceress Adel wasn't floating in space thus there was no more interference of radio signals, so now the Old Communication Tower in Dollet and the TV Station in Timber were back at work, with this came an overflow of information, reports about the red skies at Esthar, Trabia Garden destroyed by missiles, a man in a brown coat carrying a gun near FH?, the world was at chaos, everything was overwhelming, and if this wasn't enough, having to see his own face in the news in every channel, was the straw that broke the chocobo's back, his name was a synonym of the now called Second Sorceress War, reporters were in every corner every day, wanting to ask him about everything, not only how he and his team had defeated Ultimecia or what the hell was the time compression no one had actually asked if the so called war was actually over, apparently his personal life was more interesting, and the only place in which he could enjoy his deserved 'peace' was at garden, the Headmaster had been handling the mass media and for Squall's delight he had been ordered not to talk to any of them until everything had calmed down, so now Squall Leonhart was doomed to fill paperwork hiding in his new office in the third floor of Balamb Garden, he almost missed those days as a cadet when no one noticed him… almost.

"Squaaaaaaall, seven letters word for Tiredness?" Said the young sorceress now sitting on his couch, playing with a pen.

"Fatigue" Said the commander trying not to look at her, Rinoa would come to visit every time she could, he never argued but neither he would admit out loud that he actually enjoyed the company, but truth be told she made it deadly hard to concentrate and even the smallest mistake on his work would lead to more mind numbing paperwork.

"Weren't you supposed to be helping Doctor Kadowaki at the infirmary?" He asked dryly. Rinoa had taken a job as the Doctor assistant, she was still in training but the Doctor was more than grateful of the girl, of course magic couldn't give blood transfusions or heal the Trabian flu but Rinoa's talent was capable to help with serious injuries and broken bones a task she thought impossible, until a cadet who had a fated encounter with a T-Rex was brought from the training centre with a broken leg and a bunch of minor injuries, Rinoa who was walking Angelo had run to help and after the doctor had relocated the bone she had casted an strong Curaga spell even though the doctor had claimed it wouldn't help, she just looked in awe as the cadet walked away without stumbling once practically jumping of joy.

"Hm, she gave me the rest of the day, there's hardly someone to attend anyway" She said with a frown, that stupid crossword was being difficult, her eyes focused on the commander once more and with a smile she asked "A synonymous for stun, ending with e?"

"… Paralyze?"

"Oh right, Thank you" She giggled.

Yes, Rinoa had stayed at garden, mostly because he was there and a long distance relationship with the stoic commander was nearly impossible, it was hard enough to make him say what was on his mind being right by his side, imagine with an ocean of distance… and now she was a Sorceress, not many people knew about this little insignificant detail, just some SeeDs' (mostly her friends) and high officials of Esthar who had agreed to keep this matter private, she had proven that she wasn't a threat to the world by fighting Ultimecia so they accepted to let her live her life at peace, probably because Laguna's influence, so as long she didn't decide to take over the world they would not haunt her with stakes, torches and guns to freeze her forever and send her into space, charming.

The young sorceress was still learning about her powers from Edea who had decided to stay with her husband at Balamb, she had been long separated from him by what she called 'Fate', her orphanage was falling apart and the White SeeDs' didn't need to hide anymore now that Ellone was reunited with her beloved Laguna, Edea now could live with her husband and had taken the role as mentor to Rinoa, one of the first things that she had explained to her was the relationship between a Sorceress and her Knight, a sorceress's male companion. It was common knowledge that a Sorceress's Knight was something like a personal guard, but the truth was slightly different: A Knight protects more than the physical body but the soul, his duty is to help the sorceress never forget her humanity, to make her feel loved and cared about, it's not a romantic relationship or at least not always, this role could be taken by anybody who cared about the Sorceress, even a brother or a father, and since Sorceress tended to receive their powers at a very young age this was mostly the case, but if the Knight dies and the Sorceress is left alone, the most common outcome is that she would turn into corrupted ways out of pain and fear. Rinoa understood that, how the people who took her away to the sorceress memorial looked at her, they feared her, they made her feel like she was a monster and she believed them… that moment she understood that Evil Sorceress' were no more than scared women left alone in a world who hated them, full of prejudice and condemnation, of course that wasn't a reason to leave them do as they wanted. But even though she was a Sorceress, even though people might fear her if they knew, Rinoa Heartilly was happy. They all had survived Time Compression, she had a job and friends, Timber was finally able to make the remnants of Galbadian Soldiers clear the Town, obviously with the help of the SeeDs' she had hired, a new government was slowly growing and treaties with Esthar to reopen the intercontinental railway bridge, The Horizon Bridge, were being taken care of, Timber's future was bright and full of promises of change, maybe they would develop to be a centre of trade and tourism. Even Dollet announced that they weren't any longer under Galbadia's flag, and were once more the Holy Dollet Empire, their military forces were weak (as Squall had explained her, pitifully weak) but after the ordeals Galbadia had been trough their own militia was weak as well, and in no condition of any kind of action, but if something were to happen without a doubt they would contact Balamb Garden, they were eager to let other people fight their battles he had explained. Dollet was in the middle of negotiations with Esthar, the Nation of the east had opened their borders to people and sharing their highly advanced technologies, Laguna had received a big amount of criticisms regarding his decisions of hiding and closing their borders but thanks to his happy attitude each day that fact seemed less important, slowly people were calming down and starting to believe that no war was coming, slowly… really slowly, at the pace of a Caterchipillar going up a hill, but it was happening, change was coming.

Rinoa giggled again but Squall did not look up from his papers. The thought of Laguna wearing a suit, trying to explain and establish a treaty was eerily fun, and she would be willing to pay all her Gil to see a video with all the best and funniest moments. The president of Esthar was indeed busier than his newfound son. Just a couple of months had passed since their battle against Ultimecia and most of the monsters in Esthar were taken care of, but still quite a big amount of SeeDs' and Esthar soldiers patrolled the streets, just to give a sense of security to the people who were still scared of a second wave of monsters falling from the sky. Squall had buried himself in work, assisting the headmaster in the reconstruction of the area destroyed by the missiles in which Balamb Garden was located, even the reconstruction of garden itself, some places like The Quad were crumbling, and a few changes that the Headmaster and Edea thought necessary, and of course he had to fulfill his duties as Commander and give assignments sending SeeDs' all over the world. But a week ago the commander had shared with her a secret that had been weighting him down, he trusted her enough to share the weight of Ellone's confession.

For the first time he had knocked at her door asking if they could talk, she shyly invited him inside her room, there after a long pause he slowly told her what Ellone had explained two months ago at the presidential palace of Esthar when the formal request for SeeD assistance with the effects of the Lunar's Cry was signed, the story of his birth, who his mother was, and how they reached Edea's Orphanage, the reasons why she had left and finally the fact that his father apparently was very much alive, leading one of the biggest countries in the world and sitting right beside him with the biggest leg cramp of his life. She had listen to the story cuddled by his side, It was a moment nearly as intimate and deep as the one they shared in the Ragnarok, when he had jumped into space willing to die by her side so she wouldn't be alone, it certainly felt like they were years ago from that. When she finally asked what he was going to do, with a sigh he hugged her closer, after a small eternity he answered with the best answer he could give "I don't know" it was definitely better than a flat negative. They stayed like that for how long Hyne knows, but of course before curfew he leaved.

"When is Selphie coming back?" Finally asked Rinoa, she had stayed quiet way too long, a new record.

"Those Trabians are being stubborn" A voice behind the papers said, probably the one of her boyfriend, that or Angelo had learned how to talk and in a deep masculine voice, if that was the case Pet Pals had their next issue assured. "I don't know when she's coming back" Said Squall pushing aside his papers.

"Why is so hard for some people to ask for help!" Said the girl setting aside her puzzle, half answered by the commander and half answered by her, the materialization of teamwork, she should frame it and hang it on the naked walls of the commander's office.

"They just want to see how far their efforts can take them, I kind of understand them"

"That's because you're as stubborn as them" she smiled, proud of being able to pick on him.

"You're no one to talk." The hints of a smile on his face.

"What about Zell"

"He's with the Esthar team, he and Quistis should be back in 20 days, you know that."

"I know, just forgot how long till they come. Irvine?""

"That I don't know, he just needed his papers for the formalities of his transfer… shouldn't take long, perhaps he's changed his mind and he's not coming back."

"Oh Squall, have some faith on your friends, he's just taking his time" The commander just shrugged at her answer. "Sooo… coffee break?" she offered with a smile, the commander accepted with a nod and Rinoa's smile just grew brighter.

"I cannot concentrate anyways" He admitted while leaving his chair, he reached her side and offered a hand to get up from the couch.

"Such a gentleman" She giggled while hugging his arm and walking outside of the commander's office "Come girl, let's take a walk" Rinoa said to the couch, and Angelo hurried to the door before she closed it.

They almost made it to the elevator, just a few steps more and they could go for a coffee at the cafeteria, probably walk through garden, even hand in hand if no one was looking or sneak to the balcony of the ballroom on the second floor, that would have been nice, really nice, but Xu had to spot them.

"Oh, Squall I was going to look for you, the Headmaster wants you in his office, you too Rinoa" The amount of work Xu had almost made Rinoa feel sorry for her, almost.

With so much attention on Balamb Garden and the young commander, the number of people requiring entering the Garden as a cadet was impressive. Sure, not everyone could be accepted, just those who could pay the academy fees or 'gifted children', mostly orphans. Of course, living in a world where most people scream at the sight of a Bite Bug wandering too close to a city, gifted was a debatable term, but Garden had its standards and a reputation to live for, and without Quistis, Xu had to handle most of the work that came with their popularity, Rinoa was certainly happy of not being the headmaster assistant. The mess in Cid's desk was even worse than her own closet.

"Me too? But I haven't done anything wrong! And Angelo had behaved herself" Said Rinoa looking at Xu with her best puppy eyes, sadly Xu was buried with work and couldn't see Rinoa's efforts to look innocent.

"Oh don't worry, there's nothing wrong. I actually envy you guys, you get to travel and all the fun stuff" She just dismissed them with a gesture of her hand, while Rinoa gazed at the commander with a look of excitement in her dark beautiful eyes.

Did I just thought of her eyes as beautiful?, he thought, it's wasn't so weird actually she was unquestionably a beautiful woman, not the gorgeous kind like Quistis but he was sure that in a room full of people he would still find her, always, without even looking twice, it had happened the first time he saw her, looking at the stars in that big ballroom, and it would keep happening, why do you try so hard to fool yourself, he reprimand himself. Her eyes were indeed beautiful, like chocolate, dark, brown, deep, sweet, warm… when did he started using such corny analogies? Maybe Seifer was right, maybe he was undergoing a very late puberty, pathetic.

"Again to your own little world" She took his hand and dragged him to the Headmaster's office, very much alike when she dragged him to the dance floor on the day of his graduation. "Mooove, the headmaster is waiting!"

Since the bridge took the place of what was once the headmaster office and living quarters, he had to move it, those were ones of the first changes made at garden, the addition of an administrative wing on the third floor, more rooms for the new cadets, shared rooms, single rooms and executive rooms for members of garden. Squall didn't like so many changes all at once, he never did, and complained quite a bit when the headmaster announced that he would have a bigger room matching his rank, Cid had ignored all of Squall's objections like he usually did.

The Headmaster new office was nearly as big as the old one, with big windows which Edea had filled with flowers, quite charming and feminine, the headmaster didn't seem to mind one bit, he was delighted of having his wife by his side again. When they both entered the room Edea was filling some cups with boiling water and smiled warmly at the young couple and their pet.

"Good evening Squall, Rinoa, please sit down" Matron smile was beautiful, she was once again her old self, although not a sorceress any longer she still looked young, delicate and elegant, kind and loving, Squall could not find enough adjectives that do justice to her beautiful personality "Would you want some tea?" Without waiting for an answer she handed them two beautiful cups of the hot beverage.

"Thank you" Said both the young commander and sorceress.

"Oh no Cid, you cannot have sugar, you have to take care of your insulin, dear."

"Fine, fine, first no coffee then no sugar, you've taken away all the fun from tea time, sweetheart" Said the Cid sitting next to his wife, Squall had never seen such a big smile on the headmaster's face, he was without a doubt the biggest baby in the world now, delighted that his wife cared for him, instead of the continuing reprimands that Doctor Kadowaki used as greeting.

Squall decided it as an awkward situation, they all sipped their tea in silence though he could say that Edea was definitely happy and enjoying the moment, he didn't want to break the silence but neither he wanted to just sit there drink tea, of course the headmaster would never just go straight to the point… why would he do that if he could share mindless chatter asking his wife her thoughts about the weather, he looked at Rinoa who was hiding behind her own cup and smiling at him, studying him, making him feel self conscious.

She always did that, trying to know what he was thinking, trying to understand what every little action meant, probably right now she was reading his mind, she could read him like an open book. They both had changed, she didn't push her beliefs on him anymore and he didn't push her away, speaking with her came fluently and easy and he enjoyed every second with her, they didn't fight as much anymore and if they did they were about small things.

"Excuse me, Sir why did you call for us?" He asked at last.

"Squall you just cannot enjoy the moment, don't you" Said Cid laughing, he looked like a weird personification of Santa Claus, creepy. "Here" He offered an envelope to the commander. "We´ve been invited to the opera by the Dukedom of Dollet, this Friday at 2000 hours"

"How required is our assistance to this event, sir?" Not a very pleasant look on his face.

"Mandatory. Squall… you have to understand that now you are a public figure and a representative of garden. This is going to be quite common now. We must maintain good relationships with our possible employers. NORG is out of the picture but we still need to keep work steady in order to generate the funds needed to run Balamb Garden." The headmaster was right, the Garden master was no more, some Shumis had come and taken away what remained of NORG, some kind of cocoon that would eventually hatch, the Shumi Elder had explained to him later in one of his visits to their village that Shumis' don't die but evolve and reincarnate, meaning that NORG had a second chance at the Shumi village.

"Aw come on Squall, we will have fun!" Said Rinoa, who had been surveying the envelope.

"We?" His blue gaze fell upon her.

"I was called here for a reason, and the invitation says that you can bring a companion." she stuck her tongue out, If he was thinking that she would be left behind while he had fun, he was oh so very wrong.

"Yes Squall, it would be nice for a change, me and Cid are going to so you don't have to worry so much, we'll be there if something happens." Edea refilled her cup and offered him a reassuring smile.

What was fun about the opera was something that Squall couldn't understand, he'd never go to such a social event willingly, actually he had never been in a movie theater, having been too busy studying and training trough all his life. "How wise is that you go, Ma'am?" Asked Squall, she was after all Edea, it didn't matter how oblivious the Dolletians were, they would notice. He almost regretted the question, as a hint of sadness showed in her smile.

"I don't think that will be a problem. I'm no longer a sorceress therefore I poses no threat, we just have to tell the truth about Ultimecia and omit certain details" She said looking at Rinoa.

"Formal dress code is required so you can use your uniform Squall, we will met at the lobby that day at 1600 hours, you are dismissed" That sounded like an order and Squall couldn't argue with orders.

When the young couple stepped out of the office, the commander's mood was several shades darker and Rinoa shined on her own.


End file.
